Cages have been used for many years to hold check-valves in registration with fluid passageways for controlling the flow of fluid, commonly pressurized fluid, therethrough.
Fluid operative devices, particularly slack adjusting devices, have employed such cages for many years for enabling a check-valve to control pressurized fluid flow to assist movement of a spring biased piston for a vehicular engine slack adjuster or chain or belt tensioner well known to those skilled in the art.
The cages heretofor used in such devices have most commonly been held in place by featuring circular outwardly extending flanges that are adapted to rest in a recess surrounding the passageway for the fluid and are held thereagainst by means of a coiled spring.
Examples of prior art check-valve cages employing such means to hold the cages in place in slack adjusting devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,098,240; 4,184,464; and 4,227,495, and examples employing such means for holding the cages in place in chain or belt tensioning devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,507,103; 4,713,044; and 4,708,696, the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In other instances, the cages have been held in place by having a peripheral edge that extends radially outwardly into a surrounding inwardly facing groove adapted to hold the cage in place and which in some instances, has employed a retaining clip to hold the edge in the groove.
The cage of the present invention, while providing the function of holding a check-valve in registration with a passageway for controlling fluid flow therethrough between two chambers, is held in place in an entirely different manner enabling elimination of the coiled spring and inwardly facing groove and/or retaining clip heretofor used for such purpose.
The present invention not only provides a resilient cage for retaining a check-valve for controlling fluid flow through a passageway between two chambers, but additionally provides a convenient method for holding two plungers together containing the respective chambers against a resilient biasing means, such as a spring, tending to separate the plungers.